Fastener packages comprising an elongated tape carrying a pluraility of spaced fasteners are known since long.
One such fastener package, described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,771,610 comprises an elongated tape which is reversely folded along one side edge thereof with the reversely folded portion disposed on the upper side of the tape and extending only partially toward the opposite edge of the tape, and fasteners having shanks extending through the tape at spaced intervals through that portion of the tape that is not covered by the reversely folded portions. The fasteners have heads disposed against the upper side of the tape and against that portion which is not covered by the reversely folded portion. The tape is weakened on laterally extending lines extending from each shank to the edge of the tape that has not been reversely folded.
Fastener packages of the just described type suffer from the drawback that the tape has to be pulled laterally away from the fastener after the fastener has been started by a light tap of a hammer. For this and other reasons a fastener package of the just discussed type cannot be used in a fastener applicator.
Another type of fastener package is disclosed in British Patent No. 1 284 035. In that patent screws are pressed at spaced intervals through a double thickness of flexible tape or sheet which layers are conveniently of identical small thickness and readily pierced by the screws. In the resultant combination of double-thickness tape and inserted screws each screw is surrounded, immediately adjacent the head, by two concentric collars, respectively provided by the two tape layers and which exert a grip on the screw shank so that the screw is firmly held in the tape. A secure grip is achieved particularly with a tapering screw shank and it has been expressly stated in the specification that a thread, if present on the shank, plays no essential part in attaining a secure grip.
The just described screw package is not intended to be and cannot be used in screw tightening apparatus because the concentric collars which frictionally grip the screw shank are apt to be torn away from the strip by the screw head as the screws are driven home, and to remain on the screw shank, thus leaving unsightly tape residues jammed between the under side of the screw and the workpiece.
Still another type of fastener package, particularly for comparatively short screws, comprises a rather thick tape of cardboard or plastic, which has laterally open slots or openings wherein the screws are laterally inserted in a manner to have the shanks thereof passing through the carrier tape. Fastener packages of this type have some advantages but they also suffer from certain drawbacks among which is notably that the screws are sometimes unsatisfactorily held in the tape.